U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao will be the keynote speaker at the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Rooster Booster Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. May 3 at the Owensboro Convention Center.
Chao has campaigned in Owensboro many times with and for her husband, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.
And she was the keynote speaker at the chamber’s annual awards program in January 2008.
But it’s rare to have a cabinet secretary speak at Rooster Booster.
“Secretary Chao has been a great friend to Owensboro and to Western Kentucky,” Chamber President Candance Brake said in an email Tuesday. “She and her top-rate staff have counseled our community infrastructure teams on project funding and financing.”
She said, “Recently a group of (local) elected and business leaders visited Washington, D.C., to discuss community projects. The majority of our projects lie within the realm of transportation. From the riverport and airport to our key road projects, our community is very reliant on infrastructure upgrades, improvements and innovations. Secretary Chao understands this.”
J. Todd Inman, a former chamber board chairman, is now Chao’s director of operations.
Brake said he was instrumental in getting Chao to speak to the Rooster Booster Breakfast.
Inman, she said, “knows first hand what an impactful venue Rooster Booster is.”
Tickets for the breakfast are $12 for members with reservations, $15 for members without reservations and $20 for nonmembers.
They can be ordered by calling the chamber at 270-926-1860.
By Keith Lawrence Messenger-Inquirer